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Renaissance/Turner Basses Club
- Thread starter EdwardofHuncote
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You have to be super careful when adjusting the truss rod on a Turner Ren or Electroline bass. Proper procedure is to loosen the strings, pull back on the neck with some pressure while tightening the truss rod. The best way I've found to do this is to stand the bass vertical between my feet and knees, put some pressure on the neck with one hand, and have the hex key wrench in the other.
There's detail on this earlier in this thread, and Rick has published this previously. It is also in the Turner owners manuals which are hard to find. See below:
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Porterbass, thanks very much for the reminder to loosen the truss rod first, and to push the neck forward before tightening the truss rod, and for the PDF instruction files. I just read through them, will give it a go with what is recommended, and work with a luthier if I can't get the action to my liking. Thanks again, very helpful!
- Aug 21, 2013
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- Disclosures
- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
Yeah, that first, and I wouldn't rule out that the bridge itself may need to be recut, very much like an upright bridge would. As the neck joint of a new instrument settles in and relaxes a bit, the geometry can drift by a millimeter or less... that little bit makes an exponential difference when extended to the bridge. Sounds like you just need some good old-fashioned straight-edge setup.
Thanks EofH. I think I'll wait to see how my truss rod adjustments from last night and this morning settle. If I find the action still needs to be lowered, might see if I can send it in to Rick Turner for a little reduction in the bridge height. I'd rather see if he will do it first, before I bring it to a local luthier.
I'm sure you know what you're up to, but you said "loosen the truss rod first and push the neck forward". Actually, I think the recommendation is to loosen the strings first; and then if you want to tighten the truss rod (to flatten the neck and lower the action), you want to pull it back towards flat, not forward. If I have it backwards, sorry to have bothered you.
@RVBASS Isn't it a bone bridge saddle on your Turner Model 1? That's actually very easy to adjust if you need to go that route after a proper truss rod adjustment. I've adjusted bone saddle height myself a number of times for my flamenco and classical guitars. You just remove the bone saddle, put a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface, and sand the bottom side of the saddle to lower the height. Don't get too aggressive and check it every little bit to make sure you don't lower it too much. I'm sure there are some good YouTube videos that show how.
Although it's great to have Rick's shop work on these, you're in Boston and that's a long way to ship to California and back, plus very expensive. A good luthier who works on classical/flamenco guitars could easily do this for you. I'm sure there are some good ones in the Boston area.
Although it's great to have Rick's shop work on these, you're in Boston and that's a long way to ship to California and back, plus very expensive. A good luthier who works on classical/flamenco guitars could easily do this for you. I'm sure there are some good ones in the Boston area.
Hi Guys,
Thanks again for the feedback. I did just as you guys said, my writing was dislexic!
When I initially changed the strings the bone saddle fell out, I didn’t realize it would be loose. I noticed that the piezo wire was in the slot of the wooden bridge and directly under the bone saddle. I’ll check to make sure there is not a groove in the base of the bone saddle. Either way, I will look into Boston area classical guitar luthiers, that’s a great recommendation. I’ll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks!
Thanks again for the feedback. I did just as you guys said, my writing was dislexic!
When I initially changed the strings the bone saddle fell out, I didn’t realize it would be loose. I noticed that the piezo wire was in the slot of the wooden bridge and directly under the bone saddle. I’ll check to make sure there is not a groove in the base of the bone saddle. Either way, I will look into Boston area classical guitar luthiers, that’s a great recommendation. I’ll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks!
Sorry for overdue reply. i have been back and forth over the decades with what to use, and finally settled on a 2 channel Raven preamp. I can give each pu its own channel efx etc..my ren has a mag pu as well. I have used this straight into FOH, and at home in my "studio", into a set of Grado 80's. all outboard processing is in Ableton. The raven also has great eq on both channels. OF COURSE he stopped making them (he also had a wonderful headphone). There's prolly something better by now, but like my Grados, this isnt going anywhere.
i dont play the ren with some music I make, which tends to the FreeNoise side, it seems to like to live beside intense, but quieter music. horses for courses.
chang of plans..I have been playing rens since the last century. Used the Thoms for a long time, but changed to flats wih steel cores so I could use the Magnetic pickup. I have never really liked what they sound like though, I am looking at switching back to Thoms. BUT
My ren is 30" scale and is a 5 fiver tuned e-c. so that pretty much (I think?) rules out the thoms, as the scale seems way off.
Anybody have an alt string like thoms but with a metal core/ The Labellas I tried didnt do it for me.
My ren is 30" scale and is a 5 fiver tuned e-c. so that pretty much (I think?) rules out the thoms, as the scale seems way off.
Anybody have an alt string like thoms but with a metal core/ The Labellas I tried didnt do it for me.
No worries; what you posted was a PSA, actually.
Played this through an SF-2 today. Smoothed out some harshness in the piezo, was able to get a nice sounding mag/piezo blend, and the lows were soft and wonderful.
- Aug 21, 2013
- 6,668
- 2
- 16,472
- Disclosures
- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
What settings did you find did the most for what, RV? LP/HP or BP? My personal experience with the piezos on the Electrolines is that I tend to use them more as a bass boost function than for what they actually are... setting up the SF-2 to highpass Ch1 to sort of set a frequency floor, then lowpass Ch2, (keep in mind, mine are jumped in the back) I play around with the filter gains and dampening ratios to taste. Nothing too radical. Does it matter...? Absolutely - night/day difference.
I will have to say, with all respect due to both parties- a Turner bass through an Alembic F-1X preamp and SF-2 is just a devastatingly beautiful sound.
I’ll try your set up with High pass on channel one and see what I come up with. Interesting that you use the piezo to boost low end, I’ve been using it to add a little crispness that opens the sound up a little, then I use the SF-2 to emphasize the lows and mids.
Here’s a photo of my settings. I use low pass on channel one to set the upper limit for the low end, and high pass on channel two to set the lower limit for the high end. I then use the various gains and ratios to manipulate different aspects of the set ranges. The tone controls on the F-1X and bass mix before going into the SF-2. I use the effects send/return to patch the SF-2 through the F-1X, and full range out of the F-1X to a power amp. The tone is not for everyone, a touch of ‘74 Phil compressed sound in the higher end.
Here’s a photo of my settings. I use low pass on channel one to set the upper limit for the low end, and high pass on channel two to set the lower limit for the high end. I then use the various gains and ratios to manipulate different aspects of the set ranges. The tone controls on the F-1X and bass mix before going into the SF-2. I use the effects send/return to patch the SF-2 through the F-1X, and full range out of the F-1X to a power amp. The tone is not for everyone, a touch of ‘74 Phil compressed sound in the higher end.
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hey sports fans need some opinions (no really!) on a new amp for my Ren. Here's the background:
I have an RT one-off Ren 5, 30" Scale, dual mono output with a piezo and hand-wound by the Boss mag pickup and high C, and is fretless. I only use it to play art music, which is not how I make my money playing bass, for that stuff I use the usual rawk bass slab. About 90% of those gigs have a rawk bass amp in the backline, the other 10% I bring my TC RS 2x12 and a 500 watt TC head, which is fine for that. All big rawk pa's usually with sidefills. The TC cab weighs a lot ( at 55lbs which is twice as heavy than I would want). I can use the TC head, feeding my Raven stereo pre into it, but I am looking for a new cab.
the art music gigs are sometimes in other countries (I consider east and west coast usa "other countries") and the promoters usually have a sound system or PA or both, so no need to drag stuff. This new amp is mostly for the few times when i need a small cab in a small place here in Chicago.
hope that's clear ...ok, still awake? thanks! I am leaning to either a small medium-priced 1x10 or 12 or 2x8 thing. Doesn't need super low end or bat ears from hell high end, just, as Howlin Wolf used to say, "a good sound". I also can't feature spending a lot of money (that I don't have because..umm)so yea bareface etc are really nice, but too rich for my thin blood for the time I will use it.
of course, now that all my gigs and three count em three albums have been put off tll JA know when, this might be idle TB conjecture, but as yews guise are the best people to ask here, I thought why not.
Suggestions appreciated, ALSO suggestions about what NOT to get, which are just as important.
cheers, and hope you are all doing well, health-wise.
I have an RT one-off Ren 5, 30" Scale, dual mono output with a piezo and hand-wound by the Boss mag pickup and high C, and is fretless. I only use it to play art music, which is not how I make my money playing bass, for that stuff I use the usual rawk bass slab. About 90% of those gigs have a rawk bass amp in the backline, the other 10% I bring my TC RS 2x12 and a 500 watt TC head, which is fine for that. All big rawk pa's usually with sidefills. The TC cab weighs a lot ( at 55lbs which is twice as heavy than I would want). I can use the TC head, feeding my Raven stereo pre into it, but I am looking for a new cab.
the art music gigs are sometimes in other countries (I consider east and west coast usa "other countries") and the promoters usually have a sound system or PA or both, so no need to drag stuff. This new amp is mostly for the few times when i need a small cab in a small place here in Chicago.
hope that's clear ...ok, still awake? thanks! I am leaning to either a small medium-priced 1x10 or 12 or 2x8 thing. Doesn't need super low end or bat ears from hell high end, just, as Howlin Wolf used to say, "a good sound". I also can't feature spending a lot of money (that I don't have because..umm)so yea bareface etc are really nice, but too rich for my thin blood for the time I will use it.
of course, now that all my gigs and three count em three albums have been put off tll JA know when, this might be idle TB conjecture, but as yews guise are the best people to ask here, I thought why not.
Suggestions appreciated, ALSO suggestions about what NOT to get, which are just as important.
cheers, and hope you are all doing well, health-wise.
I love my TC Rig and have the RS 210 and 212 cabs, I’d suggest picking up a Small folding hand truck or even one of those folding wagons (I have both) to bring any combination I or you might need. Keep what you have and move it easier. Spend less. Play more. Me? My RT RB-5F is a Highly flamed walnut 35” B-G lined fretless.
thanks mtb. I thought about doing this, and will keep the tc head, but I really do need to be mobile/lightweight. I know 52 lbs isnt considered heavy (it used to be LIGHTWEIGHT, back in the olden daze, but a funny thing happened..it is now a midweight I suppose, but for a senior citizen like me, it is too heavy). I am really spoiled by playing through backlines/having stage crews. I love reading about iem's but they are not for me and the ren, I need to hear my bass in the acoustic space. BTW, I have been playing Rens from day one, and had a bass similar to yours, but find a short scale much more to my liking, especially with a high C. But i do remember too the incredible LOW end of that 35" b string through a 100,000 watt PA.
